Athletic shoe

ABSTRACT

An athletic shoe having a sole with an upper secured thereto and a turntable having traction means thereon being rotatively mounted to the underside of the sole, said turntable being secured to a plate which is retained by structure associated with said sole but is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to said sole and including sealing means to prevent the entry of deleterious material between said turntable and said sole and a heel having rearwardly extending traction means. This abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application which, of course, is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

United States Patent 11 1 Cameron ATHLETIC SHOE [76] Inventor: Bruce M. Cameron, 5220 Travis,

Houston, Tex. 77002 22 Filed: Mar. 15, 1971 21 App]. No. 123,945

[52] U.S. Cl 36/2.5 AG, 36/67 R [51] Int. Cl. A43b 00/00, A43c 15/00 [58] Field of Search 36/2.5 R, 2.5 A,

345/59 R, 67 A, 67 D, 67 R, 2.5 AE, 2.5 AG, 2.5 H

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,354,561 11/1967 Cameron 36/67 D 3,466,763 9/1969 Levin 36/67 A 1,232,518 7/1917 Emery 36/59 R 3,532,098 10/1970 Rodenberger.... 36/67 A 3,481,332 12/1969 Arnold 36/59 R 11] 3,739,497 June 19, 1973 Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney-J. Vincent Martin, Joe E. Edwards, M. H. Gay, Alfred H. Evans and Jack R. Springgate [57] ABSTRACT An athletic shoe having a sole with an upper secured thereto and a turntable having traction means thereon being rotatively mounted to the underside of the sole, said turntable being secured to a plate which is retained by structure associated with said sole but is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to said sole and including sealing means to prevent the entry of deleterious material between said turntable and said sole and a heel having rearwardly extending traction means.

This abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application which, of course, is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures IZNIHN 3 739.49?

BRucE M. CAMERON INVENTOR.

M ML;

ATTORNEYS BY M ATHLETIC suos SUMMARY The present invention relates to an improved athletic shoe, and particularly is an improvement on my prior athletic shoe as disclosed and claimed in U. S. letters Pat. No. 3,354,561, issued Nov. 28, 1967, and entitled Athletic Shoe Having Rotatable Cleat Means.

The concept disclosed in such prior patent is an athletic shoe which provides for the free swiveling of the foot of the wearer when cleated to the ground whereby a very significant reduction in injuries to the knee and ankle of the wearer is achieved.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleat means for an athletic shoe which does not have metal studs in the individual cleats.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved athletic shoe with a rotatable cleat plate in which dirt and other material are sealed out of the area of support for the rotatable cleat means.

A further object is to provide an improved athletic shoe which allows a rotation of the shoe when cleated and which is lighter and easier to manufacture.

Still another object is to provide an improved athletic shoe with rotatable cleat means which are easily and quickly replaceable.

A still further object is to provide an improved heel for an athletic shoe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are hereinafter set forth and explained with respect to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the improved athletic shoe of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the sole of the athletic shoe.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the shoe of FIG. 1 to illustrate the configuration of the improved heel of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the assembled relationship of the cleating means and the shoe sole.

FIG. 5 is an exploded sectional view of the improved rotatable cleat means.

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of a modifiedform of cleat plate.

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As used herein the term athletic shoe is intended to mean all shoes adapted to be worn to provide increased traction for the wearer with the ground utilizing trac-' tion means such as cleats, spikes or tread. For come nience of illustration, the traction means is illustrated herein in the preferred form as cleats.

The improved athletic shoe 10 of the present invention includes a sole 12, an upper 14 secured to the sole by any suitable means, the traction means 16 and the heel 18. For convenience of terminology, the exposed side of the sole 12 to which the traction means 16 and heel 18 are connected is termed the bottom. The bottom of the sole 12 is shown in FIG. 2 and the cut-out or removed arch portion 20 is shown by the dashedlines. From this view, it can be seen that a single sole design with minor trim can be used for the shoes.

The traction means 16 shown includes the circular plate 22 having cleats 24 projecting therefrom and the means for rotationally supporting plate 22 with respect to the sole 12. The rotation support means for the plate 22 includes the base plate 26, the washer 28, the carrier plate 30, having receptacles 32 thereon, the seal ring 34, the seal retainer ring 36, and the clamping ring 38. The rotation support means is assembled with clamping ring 38 being suitably secured to base plate 26 as by spot welding. With rings 36 and 38 secured to base plate 26 the carrier plate 30 is free to rotate therebetween. O-ring 34 which is held between ring 36 and plate 30 provides a seal to prevent entry of dirt between plates 26 and 30. The washer 28 is positioned within the ridge 54 between plates 26 and 30 and assists in minimizing the friction therebetween. When assembled, the assembly is suitably secured in its position in the sole 12. The assembly may be secured in the recess in the sole by integrally molding the assembly with the molding of the sole 12.

In the forming of sole 12, it is preferred that the lower edge surrounding the support means is tapered outwardly and downwardly to form annular seat 40. The outer edge 42 of plate 22 is also tapered at the same angle to mate with seat 40 as best shown in FIG. 4.

The plate 22 isconnected to the carrier plate 30 by the screws 44 which extend through the holes 46 with their heads 48 engaging the shoulders 50 and their threaded shanks 52 engaging receptacles 32. In the event screws 44 are brokenand plate 22 falls off, the shank portions of the screws remain in the receptacles 32 so that there is no sharp projection from the bottom of the sole 12. V

The carrier plate 30 is provided with the two annular ridges 54 and 56 which, in operation, engage the under surface of base plate 26. These ridges provide a minimum of friction between plates 30 and 26 so that the traction means is easily related. The hole 58 in carrier plate 30 allows a suitable lubricant to be injected between carrier plate 30 and base plate 26 if desired. The

right and left seal ring 34 and the engagement between seat 40 and edge 42 both function to provide a :seal preventing the entry of dirt or any other deleterious material into the rotating support means.

With. the traction means 16 as described above, the cleats 24 are integrally molded or formed as a part of the plate 22. This form of cleating means 16 is, therefore, such that if the cleats are broken or the plate 22 comes loose, there is'no projecting metal post or other metal projection which would be a serious danger to other athletes.

The preferred material for the sole 12 is a thermoplastic ionomer resin derived from carboxylic acid containing monomel' copolymerized with ethylene such as the product sold by duPont under the trademark SUR- LYN A.

The heel 18 has a body structure which is integral with or suitably secured to the sole 12. The bottom of the heel body defines a pair of narrow, flat surfaces 60 which converge in the rearwarddirection and are separated by the shallow groove 62. The rear of the heel body includes two spaced-apart projections 64 which function as traction means as hereinafter explained.

With the heel structure as shown, the flat surfaces 60 rest on the ground when the shoe is flat on the ground and in this position the heel 18 does not offer any appreciable resistance to rotation of the shoe about the plate or turntable 22. The edges of the surfaces 60 are slightly rounded so that they do not catch and interfere with such free rotation. The projections 64 are positioned facing rearwardly and adapted to engage the ground when only the heel portion of the shoe is in engagement with the ground. Such projections 64 thereby provide a traction means when the traction means of plate 22 are not in engagement with the ground to thereby allow the wearer of the shoe to dig in his heels and have adequate traction without interferring with the swiveling action of the traction means 16.

A modified form of traction means is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The circular plate 66 includes a pair of bristle or brush strips 68 which are mounted on the lower surface of the plate 66. As shown in FIG. 7, the strips 68 include the base material 70 which is suitably bonded to plate 66 and the bristles or projections 72 which extend therefrom. These projections 72 are preferably integral with the base material and are relatively resilient, being made of a resilient plastic material such as low density polyethylene. In the preferred form of such traction means, the projections 72 extend approximately 0.2 inches from the base material and are tapered outwardly. Also, the strips 68 will include approximately 256 projections per square inch. If desired, the entire surface of the plate 66 may be covered with such traction means except for the holes through which the fasteners 74 extend.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the improved shoe of the present invention provides traction means which, when removed, does not have any studs or screws projecting therefrom, but does have a rotatable traction means which is sealed against the entry of dirt, a shoe which is light and reliable in the rotation traction means for prevention of injuries and improved heel for the shoe which does not interfere with the rotation of the shoe with respect to the traction means and provides traction means operative when the heel only engages the ground.

I claim:

1. A shoe comprising an upper,

a sole secured to said upper,

traction means,

means for rotatively mounting said traction means to said sole,

said mounting means being wholly contained within said sole and including,

a base plate secured to said sole,

said base plate and paid sole defining a recess,

a circular carrier plate,

means for retaining said carrier plate within said recess and allowing said carrier plate and a portion of said traction means to rotate therein,

means for securing said traction means to said carrier plate, and

means for sealing around the recess in said sole to prevent entry of dirt therein.

2. A shoe comprising an upper,

a sole secured to said upper,

said sole defining a first recess extending therethrough and a second recess on the inside of said sole surrounding said first recess,

a base plate secured in said second recess,

a circular carrier plate,

means secured to said base and retaining said carrier plate within said recess and allowing said carrier plate to rotate with respect to said sole,

traction means, and

means for attaching said traction means to said carrier plate.

3. A shoe according to claim 1 including an O-ring, and

a retainer ring secured to said base plate and coacting with said carrier plate to confine said O-ring therebetween and provide a seal to prevent the entry of dirt into the space between said base plate and said carrier plate.

4. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said attaching means includes a plurality of first threaded elements carried by said carrier plate, and

a plurality of second threaded elements adapted for threaded engagement with said first threaded elements and being in engagement with said traction means to attach said traction means to said carrier plate.

5. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said attaching means includes a plurality of internally threaded sockets carried on said carrier plate, and

a plurality of externally threaded fasteners extending through holes in said traction means to attach said traction means to said carrier plate.

6. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said traction means includes a circular turntable having a plurality of cleats extending therefrom,

said first recess in said sole being tapered downwardly and outwardly,

the exterior of said turntable having a diameter and taper adapted to engage and mate with said first recess taper.

7. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said traction means includes a multiplicity of resilient tapered projections.

8. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said base plate is integrally molded into said sole.

9. A shoe according to claim 1 including a heel secured to the rear portion of said sole,

said heel providing minimum transverse traction when said traction means is in engagement with the ground and substantial traction when said traction means is above the ground.

10. A shoe according to claim 1 including means positioned between said carrier plate and said base plate for minimizing friction therebetween.

1' I I I It 

1. A shoe comprising an upper, a sole secured to said upper, traction means, means for rotatively mounting said traction means to said sole, said mounting means being wholly contained within said sole and including, a base plate secured to said sole, said base plate and said sole defining a recess, a circular carrier plate, means for retaining said carrier plate within said recess and allowing said carrier plate and a portion of said traction means to rotate therein, means for securing said traction means to said carrier plate, and means for sealing around the recess in said sole to prevent entry of dirt therein.
 2. A shoe comprising an upper, a sole secured to said upper, said sole defining a first recess extending therethrough and a second recess on the inside of said sole surrounding said first recess, a base plate secured in said second recess, a circular carrier plate, means secured to said base and retaining said carrier plate within said recess and allowing said carrier plate to rotate with respect to said sole, traction means, and means for attaching said traction means to said carrier plate.
 3. A shoe according to claim 1 including an O-ring, and a retainer ring secured to said base plate and co-acting with said carrier plate to confine said O-ring therebetween and provide a seal to prevent the entry of dirt into the space between said base plate and said carrier plate.
 4. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said attaching means includes a plurality of first threaded elements carried by said carrier plate, and a plurality of second threaded elements adapted for threaded engagement with said first threaded elements and being in engagement with said traction means to attach said traction means to said carrier plate.
 5. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said attaching means includes a plurality of internally threaded sockets carried on said carrier plate, and a plurality of externally threaded fasteners extending through holes in said traction means to attach said traction means To said carrier plate.
 6. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said traction means includes a circular turntable having a plurality of cleats extending therefrom, said first recess in said sole being tapered downwardly and outwardly, the exterior of said turntable having a diameter and taper adapted to engage and mate with said first recess taper.
 7. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said traction means includes a multiplicity of resilient tapered projections.
 8. A shoe according to claim 1 wherein said base plate is integrally molded into said sole.
 9. A shoe according to claim 1 including a heel secured to the rear portion of said sole, said heel providing minimum transverse traction when said traction means is in engagement with the ground and substantial traction when said traction means is above the ground.
 10. A shoe according to claim 1 including means positioned between said carrier plate and said base plate for minimizing friction therebetween. 